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Words from Our Presidents: Reagan on Conscience

Oct 29, 2013JerryWords from Our PresidentsReligious Freedom, Religious Liberty, Words from Our Presidents

As part of a series entitled Words from Our Presidents we are bringing you different from quotes from U.S. Presidents on religious liberty and individual freedom. Today we have a quote from President Reagan’s 1984 address at the Ecumenical Prayer Breakfast in Texas.

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“We establish no religion in this country, nor will we ever. We command no worship. We mandate no belief. But we poison our society when we remove its theological underpinnings. We court corruption when we leave it bereft of belief. All are free to believe or not believe; all are free to practice a faith or not. But those who believe must be free to speak of and act on their belief, to apply moral teaching to public questions.”

President Ronald Reagan
August 23, 1984

CA School District Bars Choirs from Performing in Church Buildings

Oct 25, 2013JerryReligious FreedomReligious Freedom, Religious Liberty

A California school district has barred school choirs from performing inside church buildings.

Up until recently, the district’s choir program had performed in some churches because the acoustics of the buildings were deemed superior to other venues. The school district superintendent, however, barred the choirs from performing in such venues because of complaints she received along with concerns that it is unconstitutional for a school group to perform in a religious building.

As attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom have noted, this is an unnecessary policy change. The previous policy was religiously-neutral, concerned only with a venue’s acoustics; it had nothing to do with preferring a religious venue over a secular venue.

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Another Midnight Bewitching Hour

Oct 25, 2013JerryHomosexuality, MarriageMarriage, Same-Sex Marriage

The following is by Family Council staff member Deborah Beuerman.

At 12:01am October 21, several same-sex couples in New Jersey were “married” after the state Supreme Court rejected Gov. Chris Christie’s request to delay until after his appeal of an earlier lower court ruling could be heard.

In September, a state court judge ruled that, in light of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling mandating that the federal government recognize same-sex “marriages,” New Jersey must allow them. Gov. Christie appealed that decision and asked for a stay on it.

Gov. Christie has said that voters at the ballot box, not a court or legislators, should decide the issue. But Gov. Christie dropped his legal challenge to a same-gender law on October 21.

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